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NEW THOUGHT 

PASTELS 

By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX 




PUBLISHED BY 



ELIZABETH TOWNE 
HOLYOKE, - - MASSACHUSETTS 



NEW THOUGHT PASTELS 

—BY- 
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX 



Published by 

ELIZABETH TOWNE 

HOLYOKE, MASS. 



w 



LIBRARY cf CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

OCT 20 1906 

/Ic-pyrkrht Entry 
fit XXc.,No. 

/SO ?t> / 

COPY B. 






Copyright 1906 
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 



INDEX. 



A Dialogue 9 

The Weed 11 

Strength 12 

Affirm 13 

The Chosen 14 

The Nameless 16 

The Word 17 

Assistance 19 

Credulity 20 

Consciousness 21 

The Structure 22 

Our Souls 23 

The Law 24 

Knowledge 25 

Give . 27 

Perfection 29 

Fear 30 

The Way 31 

Understood 32 

His Mansion 33 

Effect 34 

Three Things 35 

Obstacles 36 

Prayer 37 

Climbing 38 

"There Is No Death, There Are No Dead" 39 

Realization 41 

7 







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A Dialogue, 




Mortal. 
HE world is full of selfishness and 
greed. 
Lord, I would lave its sin. 

Spirit. 

Yea, mortal, earth of thy good 
help has need. 
Go cleanse thyself within. 

Mortal. 
Mine ear is hurt by harsh and evil speech. 
I would reform men's ways. 

Spirit. 
There is but one convincing way to teach. 
Speak thou but words of praise. 

Mortal. 
On every hand is wretchedness and grief, 
Despondency and fear. 
Lord, I would give my fellow men relief. 



Spirit. 

Be, then, all hope, all cheer. 

Mortal. 
Lord, I look outward and grow sick at heart, 
Snch need of change I see. 

Spirit. 

Mortal, look in. Do thy allotted part, 
And leave the rest to ME. 



10 









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The Weed. 

WEED is but an unloved flower! 
Go dig, and prune, and guide, 

and wait, 
Until it learns its high estate. 
And glorifies some bower. 
A weed is but an unloved flower ! 

All sin is virtue unevolved, 

Release the angel from the clod- 
Go love thy brother up to God. 

Behold each problem solved. 
All sin is virtue unevolved. 



11 



Strength. 




HO is the strong ? Not lie who puts 
to test 
His sinews with the strong and 

proves the best ; 
But he who dwells where weak- 
lings congregate, 
And never lets his splendid strength abate. 

Who is the good 1 Not he who walks each day 
With moral men along the high, clean way ; 
But he who jostles gilded sin and shame, 
Yet will not sell his honor or his name. 

Who is the wise 1 Not he who from the start 
With Wisdom's followers has taken part; 
But he who looks in Folly's tempting eyes, 
And turns away, perceiving her disguise. 

Who is serene ? Not he who flees his kind, 
Some mountain fastness, or some cave to find ;. 
But he who in the city's noisiest scene, 
Keeps calm within— he only is serene. 



12 



A 



rm. 




ODY and mind, and spirit, all 
combine 
To make the Creature, human and 
divine. 



Of this great trinity no part deny. 
Affirm, affirm, the Great Eternal I. 

Ainrrn the body, beautiful and whole, 
The earth-expression of immortal soul. 

Affirm the mind, the messenger of the hour, 
To speed between thee and the source of 
power. 

Affirm the spirit, the Eternal I— 
Of this great trinity no part deny. 



13 



The Chosen. 





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HEY stood before the Angel at the 
gate; 
The Angel asked : ' ' Why should 
you enter in?" 
One said: "On earth my place 
was high and great;" 
And one: "I warned my fellow-men from 

sin ; ' ' 
Another : "I was teacher of the faith ; 
I scorned my life and lived in love with death. ' ' 



And one stood silent. ' ' Speak ! ' ' the Angel said ; 

' ' What earthly deed has sent you here today ! ' ' 
' ( Alas ! I did but follow where they led, ' ' 

He answered sadly: "I had lost my way— 
So new the country, and so strange my flight; 
I only sought for guidance and for light. ' ' 



14 



' ' You have no passport V 9 " None, ' ' the answer 

came. 

"I loved the earth, tho' lowly was rny lot. 
I strove to keep my record free from blame, 

And make a heaven about my humble spot. 
A narrow life ; I see it now, too late ; 
So, Angel, drive me from the heavenly gate." 

The Angel swung the portal wide and free, 
And took the sorrowing stranger by the hand. 

' ' Nay, you alone, ' ' he said, i i shall come with me, 
Of all this waiting and insistent band. 

Of what God gave, you built your paradise; 

Behold your mansion waiting in the skies." 



15 




The Nameless. 



NNUMBEKED gods may unre- 

membered die; 
A thousand creeds may perish 

and pass by; 
Yet do I lift mine eyes to ONE 

on high. 



Unnamed be HE from whom creation came; 
There is no word whereby to speak His name 
But petty men have mouthed it into shame. 

I lift mine eyes, and with a river 's force 

My love's full tide goes sweeping on its course 

To that supreme and all embracing Source. 

Then back through all those thirsting channels 

roll 
The mighty billows of the Over Soul. 
And I am He, the portion and the Whole. 

As little streams before the flood tide flee, 
As rivers vanish to become the sea, 
The I exists no more, for I AM HE. 



16 




The Word. 

H, a word is a gem, or a stone, or 
a song, 
Or a flame, or a two-edged 
sword ; 
Or a rose in bloom, or a sweet 
perfume, 
Or a drop of gall, is a word. 

You may choose yonr word like a connoisseur, 

And polish it up with art, 
But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays, 

Is the word that comes from the heart. 

You may work on your word a thousand weeks, 

But it will not glow like one 
That all unsought, leaps forth white hot, 

When the fountains of feeling run. 



17 



You may ham m er away on the anvil of thought, 

And fashion your word with care, 
But unless you are stirred to the depths, that 
word 

Shall die on the empty air. 

For the word that comes from the brain alone, 

Alone to the brain will speed; 
But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays, 

Oh ! that is the word men heed. 



18 




Assistance, 

EAN on no mortal, Love, and serve ; 
(For service is love's comple- 
ment) , 
But it was never God's intent, 
Your spirit from its path should 
swerve, 

To gain another 's point of view. 

As well might Jupiter, or Mars 

Go seeking help from other stars, 

Instead of sweeping ON, as you. 

Look to the Great Eternal Cause 

And not to any man, for light. 

Look in ; and learn the wrong, and right, 

From your own soul's unwritten laws. 

And when you question, or demur, 

Let Love be your Interpreter. 



19 



"Credulity/ 5 





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F fallacies, come knocking at my 
door, 
I 'd rather feed, and shelter full a 

score, 
Than hide behind the black port- 
cullis, doubt, 
And run the risk of barring one Truth out. 

And if pretention for a time deceive, 
And prove me one too ready to believe, 
Far less my shame, than if by stubborn act, 
I brand as lie, some great colossal Fact. 

On my soul's door, the latch-string hangs out- 
side; 
Within, the lighted candle. Let me guide 
Some errant follies, on their wandering way, 
Rather, than Wisdom give no welcoming ray. 



20 




Consciousness. 

OD, what a glory, is this conscious- 
ness, 
Of life on life, that comes to those 

who seek! 
Nor would I, if I might, to others 
speak, 
The fullness of that knowledge. It can bless, 
Only the eager souls, that willing, press 
Along the mountain passes, to the peak. 
Not to the dull, the doubting, or the weak, 
Will Truth explain, or Mystery confess. 

Not to the curious or impatient soul 
That in the start, demands the end be shown, 
And at each step, stops waiting for a sign; 
But to the tireless toiler toward the goal, 
Shall the great miracles of God be known 
And life revealed, immortal and divine. 



21 




The Structure. 

PON the wreckage of thy yesterday 
Design the structure of tomorrow. 

Lay 
Strong corner stones of purpose, 
and prepare 
Great blocks of wisdom, cut from past despair. 
Shape mighty pillars of resolve, to set 
Deep in the tear-wet mortar of regret. 
Work on with patience. Though thy toil be slow, 
Yet day by day the edifice shall grow. 
Believe in God— in thine own self believe. 
All that thou hast desired thou shalt achieve. 



22 



Our Souls, 




UR souls should be vessels receiv- 
ing 
The waters of love for relieving 
The sorrows of men. 



For here lies the pleasure of living : 
In taking God's bounties, and giving 
The gifts back again. 



23 



The Law. 




HEN the great universe was 
wrought 
To might and majesty from 

naught, 
The all creative force was— 

Thought. 



That force is thine. Though desolate 
The way may seem, command thy fate. 
Send forth thy thought— 

Create— Create! 



24 



Knowledge. 




OULD you believe in Presences 
Unseen— 
In life beyond this earthly life? 
BE STILL: 
Be stiller yet ; and listen. Set the 
screen 
Of silence at the portal of your will. 
Eelax, and let the world go by unheard. 
And seal your lips with some all-sacred word. 

Breathe "God," in any tongue— it means the 
same; 
LOVE ABSOLUTE : Think, feel, absorb the 
thought ; 
Shut out all else ; until a subtle flame 

(A spark from God's creative center caught) 
Shall permeate your being, and shall glow, 
Increasing in its splendor, till, YOU KNOW. 



25 



Not in a moment, or an hour, or day 

The knowledge comes; the power is far too 
great, 
To win in anv desultory way. 

No sonl is worthy till it learns to wait. 
Day after day be patient, then, oh, soul; 
Month after month— till, lo! the goal! the goal! 



26 



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IVE, and thou shalt receive. Give 
thoughts of cheer, 
Of courage and success, to 
friend and stranger. 
And from a thousand sources, far 
and near, 
Strength will be sent thee in thy hour of 
danger. 

Give words of comfort, of defense, and hope, 
To mortals crushed by sorrow and by error. 

And though thy feet through shadowy paths 
may grope, 
Thou shalt not walk in loneliness or terror. 

Give of thy gold, though small thy portion be. 

Gold rusts and shrivels in the hand that 
keeps it. 
It grows in one that opens wide and free. 

Who sows his harvest is the one who reaps it. 



27 



Give of thy love, nor wait to know the worth 
Of what thou lovest ; and ask no returning. 

And wheresoever thy pathway leads on earth, 
There thou shalt find the lamp of love-light 
burning. 



28 



Perfection. 




HE leaf that ripens only in the sun 
Is dull and shriveled ere its race 

is run. 
The leaf that makes a carnival of 
death 

Must tremble first before the north wind's 
breath. 

The life that neither grief nor burden knows 
Is dwarfed in sympathy before its close. 
The life that grows majestic with the years 
Must taste the bitter tonic found in tears. 



29 



F 



ear. 




EAR is the twin of Faith's sworn 
foe, Distrust. 
If one breaks in your heart the 
other must. 



Fear is the open enemy of Good. 
It means the God in man misunderstood. 

Who walks with Fear adown life's road will 

meet 
His boon companions, Failure and Defeat. 

But look the bully boldly in the eyes, 

With mien undaunted, and he turns and flies. 



30 



The Way. 




ETWEEN the finite and the infinite 
The missing link of Love has left 

a void. 
Supply the link, and earth with 

Heaven will join 

» 

In one continued chain of endless life. 

Hell is wherever Love is not, and Heaven 

Is Love's location. No dogmatic creed, 

No austere faith based on ignoble fear 

Can lead thee into realms of joy and peace. 

Unless the humblest creatures on the earth 

Are bettered by thy loving sympathy 

Think not to find a Paradise beyond. 

There is no sudden entrance into Heaven. 
Slow is the ascent by the path of Love. 



31 












Understood. 

VALUE more than I despise 

My tendency to sin, 
Because it helps me sympathize 

With all my tempted kin. 



He who has nothing in his soul 
That links him to the sod, 
Knows not that joy of self-control 
Which lifts him up to God. 

And I am glad my heart can say, 

When others trip and fall 
(Although I safely passed that way), 

"I understand it all." 



32 



His Mansion. 

HEEE was a thought he hid from 
all men's eyes, 
And by his prudent life and deeds 

of worth 
He left a goodly record upon 
earth 
As one both pure and wise. 

But when he reached a dark unsightly door 
Beyond the grave, there stood his secret thought. 
It was the mansion he had built and brought 
To dwell in, on that shore. 




33 




Effect. 

N unkind tale was whispered in 
his ear. 
He paused to hear. 
His thoughts were food that 
helped a falsehood thrive, 
And keep alive. 

Years dawned and died. One day by venom's 
tongue 

His name was stung. 
He cried aloud, nor dreamed the lie was spawn 

Of thoughts long gone. 

Each mental wave we send out from the mind, 

Or base, or kind, 
Completes its circuit, then with added force 

Seeks its own source. 



34 



Three Things. 



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NOW this, ye restless denizens of 

earth, 
Know this, ye seekers after joy 

and mirth, 
Three things there are, eternal in 

their worth. 



Love, that outreaches to the humblest things; 
Work that is glad, in what it does and brings; 
And faith that soars upon unwearied wings. 

Divine the Powers that on this trio wait. 
Supreme their conquest, over Time and Fate. 
Love, Work, and Faith— these three alone are 
great. 



35 



Obstacles. 



The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion 
is in the street. — Proverbs 26: 13. 



HEBE are no lions in the street ; 
No lions in the way. 
Go seek the goal, thou slothful 

soul, 
Awake, awake, I say. 




Thou dost but dream of obstacles ; 

In God's great lexicon, 
That word illstarred, no page has marred ; 

Press on, I say, press on. 

Nothing can keep thee from thine own 

But thine own slothful mind. 
To one who knocks, each door unlocks ; 

And he who seeks, shall find. 



36 



Prayer. 



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EAN on thyself until thy strength 
is tried; 
Then ask God's help; it will not 
be denied. 



Use thine own sight to see the way to go ; 
When darkness falls ask God the path to show. 

Think for thyself and reason out thy plan ; 

God has his work and thou hast thine, oh, man. 

Exert thy will and use it for control ; 
God gave thee jurisdiction of thy soul. 

All thine immortal powers bring into play; 
Think, act, strive, reason, then look up and pray. 



37 



Climbing. 



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HO climbs the mountain does not 
always climb. 
The winding road slants down- 
ward many a time; 
Yet each descent is higher than 
the last. 
Has thy path fallen? That will soon be past. 
Beyond the curve the way leads up and on. 
Think not thy goal forever lost or gone. 
Keep moving forward; if thine aim is right 
Thou canst not miss the shining mountain height. 
Who would attain to summits still and fair, 
Must nerve himself through valleys of despair. 



38 



"There Is No Death, There Are 
No Dead." 

(Suggested by the booh of Mr. Ed. C. Randall.) 

1 HERE is no death, there are no 
dead. ' ' 
From zone to zone, from sphere 

to sphere, 
The souls of all who pass from here 
By hosts of living thoughts are led ; 
And dark or bright, those souls must tread 
The paths they fashioned year on year. 
For hells are built of hate or fear, 
And heavens of love our lives have shed. 




Across unatlassed worlds of space, 
And through God's mighty universe, 
With thoughts that bless or thoughts 
curse, 

Each journeys to his rightful place. 
Oh, greater truth no man has said, 
i t There is no death, there are no dead. 

39 



that 



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It lifts the mourner from the sod, 
And bids him cast away the reed 
Of some uncomforting poor creed, 

And walk with Knowledge for a rod. 

It bids the doubter seek the broad 
Vast fields, where living facts will feed 
All those whose patience proves their need 

Of these immortal truths of God. 

It brings before the eyes of faith 

Those realms of radiance, tier on tier, 
Where our beloved "dead" appear, 

More beautiful because of ' ' death. ' ' 
It speaks to grief : "Be comforted ; 
There is no death, there are no dead. ' ' 



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Realization. 

EBS was a lonely, shadowed lot ; 
Or so the unperceiving thought, 
Who looked no deeper than her 

face, 
Devoid of chiseled lines of grace- 
No farther than her humble grate, 
And wondered how she bore her fate. 

Yet she was neither lone nor sad ; 
So much of love her spirit had, 
She found an ever-flowing spring 
Of happiness in everything. 

So near to her was Nature 's heart 
It seemed a very living part 
Of her own self ; and bud and blade, 
And heat and cold, and sun and shade, 
And dawn and sunset, Spring and Fall, 
Held raptures for her, one and all. 



41 



The year's four changing seasons brought 
To her own door what thousands sought 
In wandering ways and did not find— 
Diversion and content of mind. 

She loved the tasks that filled each day- 
Such menial duties ; but her way 
Of looking at them lent a grace 
To things the world deemed commonplace. 

Obscure and without place or name, 
She gloried in another's fame. 
Poor, plain and humble in her dress, 
She thrilled when beauty and success 
And wealth passed by, on pleasure bent ; 
They made earth seem so opulent. 
Yet none of quicker sympathy, 
When need or sorrow came, than she. 
And so she lived, and so she died. 

She woke as from a dream. How wide 

And wonderful the avenue 

That stretched to her astonished view ! 

42 



And up the green ascending lawn 
A palace caught the rays of dawn. 
Then suddenly the silence stirred 
With one clear keynote of a bird ; 
A thousand answered, till ere long 
The air was quivering bits of song. 
She rose and wandered forth in awe, 
Amazed and moved by all she saw, 
For, like so many souls who go 
Away from earth, she did not know 
The cord was severed. 

Down the street, 
With eager arms stretched forth to greet, 
Came one she loved and mourned in youth 
Her mother followed ; then the truth 
Broke on her, golden wave on wave, 
Of knowledge infinite. The grave, 
The body and the earthly sphere 
Were gone ! Immortal life was here ! 
They led her through the Palace halls ; 



43 



From gleaming mirrors on the walls 

She saw herself, with radiant mien, 

And robed in splendor like a queen, 

While glory round about her shone. 

"All this," Love murmured, "is you own." 

And when she gazed with wondering eye, 

And questioned whence and where and why ? 

Love answered thus : ' ' All Heaven is made 

By thoughts on earth; your walls were laid, 

Year after year, of purest gold ; 

The beauty of your mind behold 

In this fair palace ; aye, and more 

Waits farther on, so vast your store. 

I was not worthy when I died 

To take my place here at your side ; 

I toiled through long and weary years 

From lower planes to these high spheres ; 

And through the love you sent from earth 

I have attained a second birth. 

Oft when my erring soul would tire 

I felt the strength of your desire ; 

I heard you breathe my name in prayer, 

And courage conquered weak despair. 

Ah! earth needs heaven, but heaven indeed 

Of earth has just as great a need. ' ' 

44 



Across the terrace with a bound 

There sped a lambkin and a hound 

(Dumb comrades of the old earth land) 

And fondled her caressing hand. 

"YOU LOVED THEM INTO PARADISE," 

Was answered to her questioning eyes ; 

' i You taught them love ; love has no end ! 

Nor does love's life on form depend. 

If there be mortal without love, 

He wakes to no new life above. 

If love in humbler things exist, 

It must through other realms persist 

Until all love rays merge in HIM. 

Hark ! Hear the heavenly Cherubim ! ' ' 

Then hushed and awed, with joy so vast 

It knew no future and no past, 

She stood amidst the radiant throng 

That came to swell love's welcoming song— 

This humble soul from earth's far coast 

The center of the heavenly host. 

On earth they see her grave and say : 
' i She lies there till the judgment day ; ' ' 
Nor dream, so limited their thought, 
What miracles by love are wrought. 



45 



ELLA WHEELER WILCOX'S 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

This is called ' The Story of a Literary Career, 
wherein Mrs. Wilcox tells the story of her own life. 

It is a modest little book, beautifully printed on fine 
paper, with artistic half-tone pictures of Mrs. Wilcox and 
her famous home, The Bungalow. Bound in heavy Old 
Stratford, printed in two colors. 

PRICE, 50 CENTS, POSTPAID 

Published by 

ELIZABETH TOWNE, - - Holyoke, Mass 

THE NAUTILUS 

This is Elizabeth Towne's monthly magazine, of Self- 
Help, for which Mrs. Wilcox wrote 26 new poems in 
two years. Mrs. Wilcox recommends the magazine to 
her friends. Also some of Mrs. Towne's books. Ask 
for sample copy of THE NAUTILUS and you will learn 
about the books. 

ADDRESS 



ELIZABETH TOWNE, - - Holyoke, Mass. 



OCT 20 1906 



H262 78 532 




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